**4. Conclusions**

**Figure 6.** Relation between yield per hectare and harvested hectares in the United States (a), Mexico (b) and Brazil (c).

1 hg = 0.0001 t.

94 Sugarcane - Technology and Research

The biomass (dry matter) available to be burned during the harvest period of sugarcane, play an important role in the CO2 emission levels generated by the countries that practice this activity, and its release into the atmosphere can increase or decrease due to other factors such as soil quality, cane varieties used and weather conditions.

In this chapter, we can see the important relation between the production levels and harvested areas, an extensive harvest surface not necessarily give high production levels. Countries such as Colombia, Indonesia and Philippines had this behavior in their planted soils in different years. On the other hand, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, the United States, Pakistan and Thailand had a good correlation between both the parameters because when the harvested hectares increased or decreased, the production levels remain the same.

During the study period (1990–2014), we can see that Brazil, India and China had the highest quantity of cane waste (dry matter) burned and simultaneously had the better production levels and the major emissions of CO2. In general, the countries analyzed had a positive trend reflected in the annual increase of its emissions, except for the United States which reduced its production levels since 2004.

The countries that kept a good correlation between their yield levels and harvested area during the study period, it is because they have had the infrastructure to prepare their soils adequately and use the cane varieties that can be adapted to each condition presented in every stage of growth in the best way, but also have major possibilities to take advantage of the available cane waste and give it an alternative use.

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Competitive Management of Sugarcane Waste and Reduction of CO2 Emissions...

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[10] Flores-Jiménez DE, Algara-Siller M, Aguilar-Rivera N, Carbajal N, Aldama-Aguilera C, Ávila-Galarza A, Álvarez-Fuentes G. Influence of sugarcane burning on soil carbón and nitrogen reléase under drought and evapotranspiration conditions in a Mexican sugarcane supply zone. Revista Internacional de Contaminación Ambiental.

[11] Flores-Jiménez DE, Algara-Siller M, Aguilar-Rivera N, Aldama-Aguilera C. Chapter 3: Methane emissions and productivity index in the Mexican sugarcane crop fields. In: Murphy R, editor. Sugarcane. Production Systems, Uses and Economic Importance.

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Finally, to reduce CO2 emissions, it is not necessary to reduce the production levels, rather, good performance must be maintained using appropriate planting and harvesting techniques which also allow the waste (dry matter) to be disposed of in suitable conditions to be used. Actually, it could be expensive to implement these alternative practices, so every country must generate a new mechanism to make it more feasible.
